Wlan system resource indication method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a WLAN system resource indication method and apparatus. The method includes: generating, by an access point, a frame that carries resource indication information; and sending, to multiple stations, the frame that carries the resource indication information. The resource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resource indication information. Correspondingly, each piece of the sub resource indication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiple stations. Therefore, a station side does not need read the entire resource indication information, so as to reduce resource overheads and improve efficiency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/795,584, filed on Oct. 27, 2017, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2015/094493, filed on Nov. 12, 2015,which claims priority to International Patent Application No.PCT/CN2015/081859, filed on Jun. 18, 2015 and International PatentApplication No. PCT/CN2015/077912, filed on Apr. 30, 2015. All of theaforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to communications technologies, and inparticular, to a WLAN system resource indication method and apparatus.

BACKGROUND

With development of the mobile Internet and popularization ofintelligent terminals, data traffic increases explosively. A WirelessLocal Area Network (WLAN) becomes one of current mainstream mobilebroadband access technologies due to advantages in a high speed and lowcosts of the wireless local area network. In a next-generation WLANsystem 802.11ax, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, OFDMA for short)technology may be introduced to improve system resource usage.Specifically, the OFDMA technology may be used to simultaneouslyallocate different channel resources to different users, so thatmultiple users efficiently access a channel, thereby improving channelusage. For the WLAN, introduction of the OFDMA technology may enable anaccess point (Access Point, AP for short) to perform uplink and downlinktransmission for different stations (Station, STA for short) ondifferent time-frequency resources. However, after the OFDMA technologyis introduced to the next-generation WLAN system 802.11ax, a currentproblem is how to perform resource indication.

In the prior art, refer to a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution,LTE for short) system in which the OFDMA technology is used. In the LTEsystem, a resource is indicated in a manner of transmitting downlinkcontrol information (Downlink Control Information, DCI for short) byusing a physical downlink control channel (Physical Downlink ControlChannel, PDCCH for short). The DCI carries resource indicationinformation of all corresponding user equipments (User Equipment, UE forshort). After receiving the DCI, UE searches DCI space in a blinddetection manner, to obtain resource indication information of the UE.

However, in the LTE system resource indication manner, each UE needs tosearch the entire DCI for resource indication information of the UE in ablind detection manner. This has a high requirement for a processingcapability of the UE. If the LTE system resource indication manner isdirectly used in a low-cost WLAN, costs and resource consumption of theWLAN may greatly increase.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a WLAN system resourceindication method and apparatus, so as to resolve a problem of largeresource consumption in a resource indication manner in the prior art.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a WLAN system resourceindication method, including:

generating, by an access point, a frame that carries resource indicationinformation; and

sending, by the access point to multiple stations, the frame thatcarries the resource indication information, where the resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestations, and the sub resource indication information includes frequencydomain resource allocation information and/or spatial flow informationof a corresponding station; or sending, by the access point to multiplestation groups, the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation, where the resource indication information includes multiplepieces of sub resource indication information, correspondingly, eachpiece of the sub resource indication information uniquely corresponds toone of the multiple station groups, and the sub resource indicationinformation includes frequency domain resource allocation informationand/or spatial flow information of a corresponding station group.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the frequency domain resource allocationinformation includes an index in a frequency domain resource allocationtable, so that the station searches, according to the index in thefrequency domain resource allocation table, the frequency domainresource allocation table for a size and a location of a frequencydomain resource unit that uniquely corresponds to the station, or thestation group searches, according to the index in the frequency domainresource allocation table, the frequency domain resource allocationtable for a size and a location of a frequency domain resource unit thatuniquely corresponds to the station group; and the frequency domainresource allocation table includes: frequency domain resource units withmultiple different sizes, a quantity of frequency domain resourceallocation manners that corresponds to frequency domain resource unitwith each size, a location of each sub frequency domain resource that isin an entire frequency domain resource and that is obtained afterdivision performed by using frequency domain resource unit with eachsize, and the index in the frequency domain resource allocation table.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 megahertz MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, and 106 tones; orthe sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, and 107 tones; orthe sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, and 108 tones,where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, nineresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, two resource allocation manners are included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, and 242tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,107 tones, and 242 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resourceunits in the frequency domain resource allocation table include 26tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, and 242 tones, where when the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, nine resource allocationmanners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, two resource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, oneresource allocation manner is included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 40 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, and 242tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,107 tones, and 242 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resourceunits in the frequency domain resource allocation table include 26tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, and 242 tones, where when the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 18 resource allocationmanners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, eightresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, four resource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 40 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resourceunits in the frequency domain resource allocation table include 26tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes ofthe frequency domain resource units in the frequency domain resourceallocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones, and484 tones, where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 18resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, eightresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, four resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, oneresource allocation manner is included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resourceunits in the frequency domain resource allocation table include 26tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes ofthe frequency domain resource units in the frequency domain resourceallocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones, and484 tones, where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 37resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domainresource units in the frequency domain resource allocation table include26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; orthe sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones, where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 37resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 996 tones, oneresource allocation manner is included.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domain resourceunits in the frequency domain resource allocation table include 26tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or the sizes ofthe frequency domain resource units in the frequency domain resourceallocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones, and484 tones, where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, fiveresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included, where

a frequency domain resource in which the size of a frequency domainresource unit is 26 tones is a remaining frequency domain resourceobtained after division performed by using another frequency domainresource unit.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when a bandwidth of a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz,

the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or the sizes of the frequency domainresource units in the frequency domain resource allocation table include26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; orthe sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones, where

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, fiveresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106 tones, 107tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242 tones, fourresource allocation manners are included;

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, tworesource allocation manners are included; and

when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 996 tones, oneresource allocation manner is included, where

a frequency domain resource in which the size of a frequency domainresource unit is 26 tones is a remaining frequency domain resourceobtained after division performed by using another frequency domainresource unit.

With reference to the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the spatial flow information includes anindex in a spatial flow allocation table, so that the station searches,according to the index in the spatial flow allocation table, the spatialflow allocation table for a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatialflow sequence number that uniquely correspond to the station, where

the spatial flow sequence number is a sequence number of an LTF, or amatrix row number corresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or asequence number of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

With reference the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the spatial flow allocation table includes allocation manners ofdifferent quantities of spatial flows and corresponding indices.

With reference the eleventh possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,the allocation manners of different quantities of spatial flows and thecorresponding indices include:

indices 0 to 7 respectively correspond to eight different allocationmanners of a single flow;

indices 8 to 11 respectively correspond to four different allocationmanners of two spatial flows, where the different allocation manners oftwo spatial flows include: an allocation manner of spatial flows whosespatial flow sequence numbers are first and second, an allocation mannerof spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are third andfourth, an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flowsequence numbers are fifth and sixth, and an allocation manner ofspatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are seventh andeighth;

indices 12 and 13 respectively correspond to two different allocationmanners of three spatial flows, where the different allocation mannersof three spatial flows include: an allocation manner of spatial flowswhose spatial flow sequence numbers are first, second, and third, and anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare fourth, fifth, and sixth;

indices 14 and 15 respectively correspond to two different allocationmanners of four spatial flows, where the different allocation manners offour spatial flows include: an allocation manner of spatial flows whosespatial flow sequence numbers are first, second, third, and fourth, andan allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequencenumbers are fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth;

an index 16 corresponds to one allocation manner of five spatial flows,where the allocation manner of five spatial flows includes: anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare first, second, third, fourth, and fifth;

an index 17 corresponds to one allocation manner of six spatial flows,where the allocation manner of six spatial flows includes: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth;

an index 18 corresponds to one allocation manner of seven spatial flows,where the allocation manner of seven spatial flows includes: anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh; and

an index 19 corresponds to one allocation manner of eight spatial flows,where the allocation manner of eight spatial flows includes: anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

With reference to the first aspect, in a thirteenth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the spatial flow informationincludes a bitmap, and the bitmap is used to indicate a spatial flowallocation manner and a spatial flow sequence number that are allocatedto a corresponding station, where

the spatial flow sequence number is a sequence number of an LTF, or amatrix row number corresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or asequence number of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

With reference to the first aspect, in a fourteenth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the sub resource indicationinformation further includes: MCS information of a correspondingstation, indication information about whether to use STBC, indicationinformation about whether to use LDPC, and indication information aboutwhether to use beamforming.

With reference to the first aspect, in a fifteenth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

independently checking and coding, by the access point, each piece ofthe sub resource indication information in the resource indicationinformation.

With reference to the first aspect, or the fourteenth or fifteenthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixteenthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, the sub resourceindication information further includes an identifier of a correspondingstation.

With reference to the sixteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a seventeenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, the identifier of the corresponding station is an AID ofthe corresponding station or a PAID of the station.

With reference to the first aspect, in an eighteenth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the sending, by the accesspoint to multiple stations, the frame that carries the resourceindication information includes:

sending, by the access point to the multiple stations, a PPDU thatcarries the resource indication information; or

the sending, by the access point to multiple station groups, the framethat carries the resource indication information includes:

sending, by the access point to the multiple station groups, a PPDU thatcarries the resource indication information, where

the resource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGB part of aPLCP header field in the PPDU, or a MAC part of the PPDU, and the PPDUis a trigger frame, or a data frame that transmits uplink/downlink data.

With reference to the eighteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a nineteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, a common part of the HE-SIGB part in the PPDU furtherincludes an group identifier of orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess OFDMA station used to indicate the multiple stations.

With reference to the nineteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a twentieth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, before the access point sends the PPDU to the multiple stations,the method further includes:

sending, by the access point, a management frame to the multiplestations, where the management frame is used to indicate the OFDMAstation group identifier of the multiple stations to which acorresponding station belongs, and location information of each stationin the multiple stations.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides aWLAN system resource indication method, including:

receiving, by a station, a frame that is sent by an access point andthat carries resource indication information, where the resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information; and

successively reading, by the station, pieces of the sub resourceindication information in a preset sequence, and stopping reading thesub resource indication information after sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means ofreading, where

the sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides aWLAN system resource indication apparatus, including:

a generation module, configured to generate a frame that carriesresource indication information; and

a sending module, configured to send, to multiple stations, the framethat carries the resource indication information, where the resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestations, and the sub resource indication information includes frequencydomain resource allocation information and/or spatial flow informationof a corresponding station; or send, to multiple station groups, theframe that carries the resource indication information, where theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestation groups, and the sub resource indication information includesfrequency domain resource allocation information and/or spatial flowinformation of a corresponding station group.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides aWLAN system resource indication apparatus, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive a frame that is sent by anaccess point and that carries resource indication information, where theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information; and

a reading module, configured to successively read pieces of the subresource indication information in a preset sequence, and stop readingthe sub resource indication information after sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means ofreading, where

the sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station.

According to the WLAN system resource indication method and apparatusprovided in the embodiments of the present invention, resourceindication information sent by an access point to multiple stations ormultiple station groups includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, and each piece of the sub resource indicationinformation uniquely corresponds to one station or one station group. Inthis way, after receiving the resource indication information, thestation or the station group needs to read only sub resource indicationinformation, and may stop reading when the sub resource indicationinformation of the station or the station group is obtained, with noneed to read the entire resource indication information. This greatlyreduces resource overheads and may also improve efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanyingdrawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art.Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description showsome embodiments of the present invention, and persons of ordinary skillin the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanyingdrawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a WLANsystem provided in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of Embodiment 1 of a WLAN systemresource indication method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of frequency domain resource division in aWLAN system resource indication method provided in the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is another schematic diagram of frequency domain resourcedivision in a WLAN system resource indication method provided in thepresent invention;

FIG. 4A is another schematic diagram of frequency domain resourceallocation information in a WLAN system resource indication methodprovided in the present invention;

FIG. 4B is another schematic diagram of frequency domain resourceallocation information in a WLAN system resource indication methodprovided in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of sub resource indicationinformation in a WLAN system resource indication method provided in thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a PPDU in a WLANsystem resource indication method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial schematic structural diagram of another PPDU in aWLAN system resource indication method provided in the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of Embodiment 2 of a WLAN systemresource indication method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 4 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 5 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 6 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 7 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention;and

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 8 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearlydescribes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodimentsof the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are somebut not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All otherembodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based onthe embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention are applicable to a WLAN.Currently, a standard used in the WLAN is the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers, IEEE for short) 802.11 series. The WLAN may include multiplebasic service sets (Basic Service Set, BSS for short). A network node ina basic service set is a STA. Stations include an access point-typestation (Access Point, AP for short) and a non-access point-type station(None Access Point Station, Non-AP STA for short). Each basic serviceset may include one AP and multiple non-AP STAs associated with the AP.

The access point-type station is also referred to as a wireless accesspoint, a hotspot, or the like. The AP is an access point used by amobile user to access a wired network, and is mainly deployed in a home,inside a building, or inside a campus. A typical coverage diameterranges from tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Certainly, the AP mayalso be deployed outdoors. The AP is equivalent to a bridge thatconnects a wired network and a wireless network. A main function of theAP is to connect wireless network clients and then connect the wirelessnetwork to an Ethernet. Specifically, the AP may be a terminal device ornetwork device that has a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) chip. Optionally, theAP may be a device that supports the 802.11ax standard. Further,optionally, the AP may be a device that supports multiple WLAN standardssuch as 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

The foregoing non-AP STA may be a wireless communications chip, awireless sensor, or a wireless communications terminal, for example, amobile phone that supports a WiFi communications function, a tabletcomputer that supports a WiFi communications function, a set top boxthat supports a WiFi communications function, a smart television thatsupports a WiFi communications function, a smart wearable device thatsupports a WiFi communications function, a vehicle-mountedcommunications device that supports a WiFi communications function, or acomputer that supports a WiFi communications function. Optionally, thestation may support the 802.11ax standard. Further, optionally, thestation supports multiple WLAN standards such as 802.11ac, 802.11n,802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a WLANsystem provided in the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, one AP inthe WLAN system may exchange information with multiple STAs (using threeSTAs as an example), which include STA1, STA2, and STA3. Certainly, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. One AP may also exchangeinformation with multiple STA groups.

In a WLAN system 802.11ax to which an OFDMA technology is introduced, anAP may perform uplink and downlink transmission for different STAs ondifferent time-frequency resources. The AP may perform uplink anddownlink transmission by using different modes, for example, an OFDMASingle User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (SU-MIMO) mode or OFDMA MultiUser Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) mode.

The AP may simultaneously send a downlink physical layer protocol dataunit (Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit, PPDU for short) to multiplestations or multiple station groups. The multiple stations herein mayrefer to stations in the SU-MIMO mode, and the multiple station groupsherein may refer to station groups in the MU-MIMO mode.

Specifically, the PPDU sent by the AP includes a Physical LayerConvergence Protocol (PLCP) header field (Header) and a data field. ThePLCP header includes a preamble (L-Preamble) and a control field. Thecontrol field includes a high efficiency signaling A (High Efficiencysignaling A, HE-SIGA for short) part and a high efficiency signaling B(High Efficient signaling B, HE-SIGB for short) part. The PPDU mayfurther include a Media Access Control (MAC) part.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of Embodiment 1 of a WLAN systemresource indication method provided in the present invention. As shownin FIG. 2, the method includes the following steps.

S201: An AP generates a frame that carries resource indicationinformation.

Referring to FIG. 1, the AP corresponds to multiple stations orcorresponds to multiple station groups. In different structures, objectsto which the AP sends the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation are different. when the AP corresponds to multiple stations:

S202: The AP sends, to multiple stations, the frame that carries theresource indication information. The resource indication informationincludes multiple pieces of sub resource indication information. Eachpiece of the sub resource indication information uniquely corresponds toone of the multiple stations.

The sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station.

That is, each piece of the sub resource indication information includesonly frequency domain resource indication information of the uniquelycorresponding station.

In a structure in which the AP corresponds to multiple station groups,the foregoing S202 may be replaced by the following: The AP sends, tomultiple station groups, the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation. The resource indication information includes multiplepieces of sub resource indication information. Each piece of the subresource indication information uniquely corresponds to one of themultiple station groups. The sub resource indication informationincludes frequency domain resource allocation information and/or spatialflow information of a corresponding station group. That is, each pieceof the sub resource indication information includes only frequencydomain resource indication information of the uniquely correspondingstation group.

In this embodiment, resource indication information sent by an accesspoint to multiple stations or multiple station groups includes multiplepieces of sub resource indication information.

Each piece of the sub resource indication information uniquelycorresponds to one station or one station group. In this way, afterreceiving the resource indication information, the station or thestation group needs to read only sub resource indication information,and may stop reading when the sub resource indication information of thestation or the station group is obtained, with no need to read theentire resource indication information. This greatly reduces resourceoverheads and may also improve efficiency.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, the frequency domain resourceallocation information in the foregoing sub resource indicationinformation includes an index in a frequency domain resource allocationtable. After obtaining the sub resource indication information of thestation, the station may search, according to the index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table, the frequency domain resourceallocation table for a size and a location of a frequency domainresource unit that uniquely corresponds to the station. Similarly, afterobtaining the sub resource indication information of the correspondingstation group, the station group may search, according to the index inthe frequency domain resource allocation table, the frequency domainresource allocation table for a size and a location of a frequencydomain resource unit that uniquely corresponds to the station group.

Specifically, the frequency domain resource allocation table mayinclude: frequency domain resource units with multiple different sizes,a quantity of resource allocation manners that corresponds to afrequency domain resource unit with each size, a location of each subfrequency domain resource that is in an entire frequency domain resourceand that is obtained after division performed by using frequency domainresource unit with each size, and the index in the frequency domainresource allocation table. A sub frequency domain resource obtainedafter the division is denoted as a resource unit (Resource Unit, RU forshort). In a specific implementation process, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be preset in each station.

It should be noted that, when the sub frequency domain resourcesobtained after the division performed by using the different sizes offrequency domain resource units are numbered, indices are not reused.

Further, frequency domain resource allocation tables vary according todifferent bandwidths of a WLAN system. The bandwidths of the WLAN systeminclude 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and (80+80) MHz. Currently, a 256-pointfast Fourier transformation (Fast Fourier Transformation, FFT)processing manner is used in a 20 MHz bandwidth, and correspondingly,the 20 MHz bandwidth includes 256 tones.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 megahertz (MHz), the frequencydomain resource allocation table is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Index Resource allocation information (20 MHz bandwidth) 0-8Each RU includes 26 tones, and nine resource allocation manners areincluded.  9-12 Each RU includes 52 tones, and four resource allocationmanners are included. 13-14 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, and tworesource allocation manners are included. 15 Reserved

It can be seen that the sizes of the frequency domain resource units inthe frequency domain resource allocation table may include: 26 tones, 52tones, and 106 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, and 107 tones; or 26 tones,52 tones, and 108 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, nineresource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 52 tones, four resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, two resource allocation manners areincluded.

That is, when the bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 MHz, and the sizeof a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, a total of nine units(RU) may be obtained after the division. Therefore, there are nineresource allocation possibilities. Other cases are not enumerated.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 MHz, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be further shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Index Resource allocation information (20 MHz bandwidth) 0-8Each RU includes 26 tones, and nine resource allocation manners areincluded.  9-12 Each RU includes 52 tones, and four resource allocationmanners are included. 13-14 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, and tworesource allocation manners are included. 15 Each RU includes 242 tones,and one resource allocation manner is included.

In comparison with the allocation manners in Table 1, a frequency domainresource unit of 242 tones is added.

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, and 242 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, and 242tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, and 242 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, nineresource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 52 tones, four resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, two resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242tones, one resource allocation manner is included.

When the bandwidth of the WLAN system is 20 MHz, 4 bits (bit) may beused to represent an index in the frequency domain resource allocationtable. For example, “0000” represents index 0, and “0001” representsindex 1.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 40 MHz, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Index Resource allocation information (40 MHz bandwidth)  0-17Each RU includes 26 tones, and 18 resource allocation manners areincluded. 18-25 Each RU includes 52 tones, and eight resource allocationmanners are included. 26-29 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, and fourresource allocation manners are included. 30-31 Each RU includes 242tones, and two resource allocation manners are included.

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, and 242 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, and 242tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, and 242 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 18resource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 52 tones, eight resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, four resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242tones, two resource allocation manners are included.

In this case, 5 bits may be used to represent an index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table. For example, “00000” represents index0, and “00001” represents index 1.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 40 MHz, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be further shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Index Resource allocation information (40 MHz bandwidth)  0-17Each RU includes 26 tones, and 18 resource allocation manners areincluded. 18-25 Each RU includes 52 tones, and eight resource allocationmanners are included. 26-29 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, and fourresource allocation manners are included. 30-31 Each RU includes 242tones, and two resource allocation manners are included. 32 Each RUincludes 484 tones, and one resource allocation manner is included.33-63 Reserved

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones,242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones,and 484 tones.

Correspondingly, when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26tones, 18 resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, eight resource allocationmanners are included. When the size of a frequency domain resource unitis 106 tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, four resource allocation mannersare included. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242tones, two resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, one resource allocationmanner is included.

In this case, 6 bits may be used to represent an index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Index Resource allocation information (80 MHz bandwidth)  0-36Each RU includes 26 tones, and 37 resource allocation manners areincluded. 37-52 Each RU includes 52 tones, and 16 resource allocationmanners are included. 53-60 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, andeight resource allocation manners are included. 61-64 Each RU includes242 tones, and four resource allocation manners are included. 65-66 EachRU includes 484 tones, and two resource allocation manners are included. 67-127 Reserved

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones,242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones,and 484 tones.

Correspondingly, when the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26tones, 37 resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16 resource allocationmanners are included. When the size of a frequency domain resource unitis 106 tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation mannersare included. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242tones, four resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, two resource allocationmanners are included.

In this case, 7 bits may be used to represent an index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table.

Referring to FIG. 3, for example, a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80MHz. In FIG. 3, five division manners are included. Each row representsone division manner. A first row represents division performed by usinga frequency domain resource unit of 26 tones. Each white grid representsone RU including 26 tones, and there are a total of 37 white grids. Asecond row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 52 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including52 tones, and there are a total of 16 white grids. A shaded gridindicates that a remaining resource is divided by using a frequencydomain resource unit of 26 tones, and five RUs including 26 tones areincluded. A third row represents division performed by using a frequencydomain resource unit of 106 (or 107, or 108) tones. Each white gridrepresents one RU including 106 (or 107, or 108) tones, and there are atotal of eight white grids. A shaded grid indicates that a remainingresource is divided by using a frequency domain resource unit of 26tones, and five RUs including 26 tones are included. A fourth rowrepresents division performed by using a frequency domain resource unitof 242 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including 242 tones, andthere are a total of four white grids. A shaded grid indicates that aremaining resource is divided by using a frequency domain resource unitof 26 tones, and one RU including 26 tones is included. A fifth rowrepresents division performed by using a frequency domain resource unitof 484 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including 484 tones, andthere are a total of two white grids. A shaded grid indicates that aremaining resource is divided by using a frequency domain resource unitof 26 tones, and one RU including 26 tones is included.

In the frequency domain resource allocation table, a frequency domainresource location corresponding to each index is fixed and unique. Table5 and FIG. 3 are used as examples, and sequence number 0 in Table 5identifies the first white grid in the first row in FIG. 3, that is, thefirst RU of 26 tones.

When a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz, the frequency domainresource allocation table may be further shown in Table 6.

TABLE 6 Index Resource allocation information (80 MHz bandwidth)  0-36Each RU includes 26 tones, and 37 resource allocation manners areincluded. 37-52 Each RU includes 52 tones, and 16 resource allocationmanners are included. 53-60 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, andeight resource allocation manners are included. 61-64 Each RU includes242 tones, and four resource allocation manners are included. 65-66 EachRU includes 484 tones, and two resource allocation manners are included.67 Each RU includes 996 tones, and one resource allocation manner isincluded.  68-127 Reserved

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones,107 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones,108 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, 37resource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 52 tones, 16 resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 106tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, eight resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 242tones, four resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 484 tones, two resource allocationmanners are included. When the size of a frequency domain resource unitis 996 tones, one resource allocation manner is included.

In this case, 7 bits may be used to represent an index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, when the bandwidth of the WLAN systemis 80 MHz, to further reduce overheads for transmitting the resourceindication information, 26 tones may not be independently used as afrequency domain resource unit for resource division. Referring to FIG.4, based on FIG. 3, the original division manner of the first row inFIG. 3 does not exist in FIG. 4, and other division manners in which aremaining resource is divided by using a frequency domain resource unitof 26 tones are reserved.

Correspondingly, when a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz, thefrequency domain resource allocation table may be further shown in Table7.

TABLE 7 Index Resource allocation information (80 MHz bandwidth) 0-4Each RU includes 26 tones, and five resource allocation manners areincluded.  5-20 Each RU includes 52 tones, and 16 resource allocationmanners are included. 21-28 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, andeight resource allocation manners are included. 29-32 Each RU includes242 tones, and four resource allocation manners are included. 33-34 EachRU includes 484 tones, and two resource allocation manners are included.35-63 Reserved

That is, the sizes of the frequency domain resource units in thefrequency domain resource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones,106 tones, 242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones,242 tones, and 484 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242 tones,and 484 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, fiveresource allocation manners are included. It should be noted that, inthis case, a frequency domain resource in which the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 26 tones is a remaining frequency domainresource obtained after division performed by using another frequencydomain resource unit. As shown in FIG. 4, in the four division mannersin FIG. 4, a shaded part is a result obtained by dividing a remainingresource by using a frequency domain resource unit of 26 tones. In thefour division manners, at most five RUs including 26 tones are included.Referring to FIG. 4, generally, these remaining resources are sandwichedbetween other frequency domain resources, but the present invention isnot limited thereto.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 106 tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, eightresource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 242 tones, four resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484tones, two resource allocation manners are included.

In this case, 6 bits may be used to represent an index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table. This saves more overheads incomparison with the foregoing 80 MHz bandwidth resource allocationmanner in which 7 bits are used.

Similar to Table 7, when a bandwidth of the WLAN system is 80 MHz, afrequency domain resource allocation table may be further shown in Table8.

TABLE 8 Index Resource allocation information (80 MHz bandwidth) 0-4Each RU includes 26 tones, and five resource allocation manners areincluded.  5-20 Each RU includes 52 tones, and 16 resource allocationmanners are included. 21-28 Each RU includes 106/107/108 tones, andeight resource allocation manners are included. 29-32 Each RU includes242 tones, and four resource allocation manners are included. 33-34 EachRU includes 484 tones, and two resource allocation manners are included.35 Each RU includes 996 tones, and one resource allocation manner isincluded. 36-63 Reserved

The sizes of the frequency domain resource units in the frequency domainresource allocation table include 26 tones, 52 tones, 106 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 107 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones; or 26 tones, 52 tones, 108 tones, 242tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 26 tones, fiveresource allocation manners are included. It should be noted that, inthis case, a frequency domain resource in which the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 26 tones is a remaining frequency domainresource obtained after division performed by using another frequencydomain resource unit. As shown in FIG. 4, in the four division mannersin FIG. 4, a shaded part is a result obtained by dividing a remainingresource by using a frequency domain resource unit of 26 tones. In thefour division manners, at most five RUs including 26 tones are included.Referring to FIG. 4, generally, these remaining resources are sandwichedbetween other frequency domain resources, but the present invention isnot limited thereto.

When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 52 tones, 16resource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 106 tones, 107 tones, or 108 tones, eightresource allocation manners are included. When the size of a frequencydomain resource unit is 242 tones, four resource allocation manners areincluded. When the size of a frequency domain resource unit is 484tones, two resource allocation manners are included. When the size of afrequency domain resource unit is 996 tones, one resource allocationmanner is included.

In these foregoing frequency domain resource allocation tables, afrequency domain resource location corresponding to each index is fixedand unique. Table 7 and FIG. 4 are used as examples, and sequence number5 in Table 7 identifies the first white grid in the first row in FIG. 4,that is, the first RU of 52 tones.

It should be noted that the present invention further includes anotherembodiment. A same frequency domain resource allocation index table isused in different bandwidths of the WLAN system. The bandwidths of theWLAN system include 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160 MHz or (80+80) MHz.Currently, a 256-point fast Fourier transformation (Fast FourierTransformation, FFT) processing manner is used in a 20 MHz bandwidth,and correspondingly, the 20 MHz bandwidth includes 256 tones.

In this embodiment, a frequency domain resource allocation index tableuses an 80 MHz bandwidth as a criterion, and the 80 MHz bandwidthincludes 1024 tones. In FIG. 3, five frequency domain resourceallocation manners for the 80 MHz bandwidth are included. Each rowrepresents one allocation manner.

The first row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 26 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including26 tones, and there are a total of 37 white grids.

The second row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 52 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including52 tones, and there are a total of 16 white grids. A shaded gridindicates that a remaining resource is divided by using a frequencydomain resource unit of 26 tones, and five RUs including 26 tones areincluded.

The third row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 106 (or 107, or 108) tones. Each white grid representsone RU including 106 (or 107, or 108) tones, and there are a total ofeight white grids. A shaded grid indicates that a remaining resource isdivided by using a frequency domain resource unit of 26 tones, and fiveRUs including 26 tones are included.

The fourth row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 242 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including242 tones, and there are a total of four white grids. A shaded gridrepresents that a remaining resource is divided by using a frequencydomain resource unit of 26 tones, and one RU including 26 tones isincluded.

The fifth row represents division performed by using a frequency domainresource unit of 484 tones. Each white grid represents one RU including484 tones, and there are a total of two white grids. A shaded gridindicates that a remaining resource is divided by using a frequencydomain resource unit of 26 tones, and one RU including 26 tones isincluded.

One frequency domain resource unit may be allocated to each user. Thefrequency domain resource unit may be a 26-tone RU, a 52-tone RU, a106(or 107, or 108)-tone RU, a 242-tone RU, or a 484-tone RU. It can belearned from FIG. 3 that, if frequency domain tones on the 80 MHzbandwidth use the 26-tone RU as a frequency domain resource unit, 36options are included, and there are a total of 36 26-tone RUs on four 20MHz bandwidths; or 37 options are included, and there are a total of 3626-tone RUs on four 20 MHz bandwidths and one middle 26-tone RU.

If frequency domain tones on the 80 MHz bandwidth use the 52-tone RU asa frequency domain resource unit, 16 options are included. If frequencydomain tones on the 80 MHz bandwidth use the 106(or 107, or 108)-tone RUas a frequency domain resource unit, eight options are included. Iffrequency domain tones on the 80 MHz bandwidth use the 242-tone RU as afrequency domain resource unit, four options are included. If frequencydomain tones on the 80 MHz bandwidth use the 484-tone RU as a frequencydomain resource unit, two options are included. Therefore, for thefrequency domain tones on the 80 MHz bandwidth, 66 or 67 options areincluded, and an index with at least 7 bits is needed to identify afrequency domain resource allocation manner for each user.

Optionally, all frequency domain resource allocation manners of the WLANsystem are identified by using indices with 8 bits, and the indices with8 bits are applicable to 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160 MHz bandwidths.A maximum bandwidth used in the WLAN system is 160 MHz. At least twoimplementation manners are included.

An implementation manner 1 is shown in FIG. 4A.

A specific bit (for example, the first bit (B0)) of an index is used todifferentiate between two 80 MHz bandwidths; and “0” indicates a first80 MHz bandwidth, and “1” indicates a second 80 MHz bandwidth.

Remaining 7 bits (for example, (B1-B7)) of the index indicates aspecific frequency domain resource allocation manner. The remaining 7bits of the index may represent a maximum of 128 options. Therefore, theremaining 7 bits of the index are further reserved for multiple options.For example, all tones on an 80 MHz bandwidth are allocated to a user,or all tones on a 160 MHz or (80+80) MHz bandwidth are allocated to auser.

It should be noted that there may be multiple correspondences betweenthe remaining 7 bits of the index and a frequency domain resourceallocation manner for each user. No specific limitation is imposedherein. Table 8a and Table 8b show two correspondences.

TABLE 8A Number of entries Message (a quantity of fre- (a frequencydomain quency domain re- resource allocation source allocation 7-bitindex manner for each user) manners) 0000000-0100011 26-tone RU(resource unit) 36 0100100-0110011 52-tone RU (resource unit) 160110100-0111011 106-tone RU (resource unit) 8 0111100-0111111 242-toneRU (resource unit) 4 1000000-1000001 484-tone RU (resource unit) 2Others Reserved

TABLE 8B Number of entries Message (a quantity of fre- (a frequencydomain quency domain re- resource allocation source allocation 7-bitindex manner for each user) manners) 0000000-0100100 26-tone RU(resource unit) 37 0100101-0110100 52-tone RU (resource unit) 160110101-0111100 106-tone RU (resource unit) 8 0111101-1000000 242-toneRU (resource unit) 4 1000001-1000010 484-tone RU (resource unit) 2Others Reserved

In the implementation manner 1, an index with 8 bits is used to indicatefrequency domain resource allocation. The first bit is used to indicatean occupied location in an 80 MHz bandwidth, and the remaining 7 bitsare used to indicate a specific frequency domain resource allocationmanner. In the foregoing manner, frequency domain resource allocation ofthe WLAN system of different bandwidths uses a same frequency resourceindexing manner, so as to reduce processing complexity of the WLANsystem.

An implementation manner 2 is shown in FIG. 4B.

The frequency domain resource allocation manner for the 80 MHz bandwidthmay be reused for a 160 MHz bandwidth. Therefore, for frequency domaintones on the 160 MHz bandwidth, at least 132 or 134 options areincluded, and an index with at least 8 bits is needed to identify afrequency domain resource allocation manner.

Specifically, if 26-tone RU is used as a frequency domain resource unit,72 options are included, and there are a total of 72 26-tone RUs oneight 20 MHz bandwidths; or 74 options are included, and there are 7226-tone RUs on eight 20 MHz bandwidths and two middle 26-tone RUs. If52-tone RU is used as a frequency domain resource unit, 32 options areincluded. If 106-tone RU is used as a frequency domain resource unit, 16options are included. If 242-tone RU is used as a frequency domainresource unit, eight options are included. If 484-tone RU is used as afrequency domain resource unit, four options are included.

In the implementation manner 2, all frequency domain resource allocationmanners of the WLAN system are identified by using indices with 8 bits,and the indices with 8 bits are applicable to 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz,and 160 MHz bandwidths.

The 8 bits (B0-B7) of an index are used to indicate a specific locationof a frequency domain resource. Indices with 8 bits represent a maximumof 256 options. Therefore, Indices with 8 bits are further reserved formultiple frequency domain resource allocation manners. For example, alltones on an 80 MHz bandwidth are allocated to a user, or all tones on a160 MHz bandwidth are allocated to a user.

It should be noted that there may be multiple correspondences between anindex and a frequency domain resource allocation manner for each user.No specific limitation is imposed herein. Table 8c and Table 8d show onepreferred correspondence.

TABLE 8C Number of entries Message (a quantity of fre- (a frequencydomain quency domain re- resource allocation source allocation 8-bitindex manner for each user) manners) 00000000-01000111 26-tone RU(resource unit) 72 01001000-01100111 52-tone RU (resource unit) 3201101000-01110111 106-tone RU (resource unit) 16 01111000-01111111242-tone RU (resource unit) 8 10000000-10000011 484-tone RU (resourceunit) 4 Others Reserved

TABLE 8D Number of entries Message (a quantity of fre- (a frequencydomain quency domain re- resource allocation source allocation 8-bitindex manner for each user) manners) 00000000-01001001 26-tone RU(resource unit) 74 01001010-01101001 52-tone RU (resource unit) 3201101010-01111001 106-tone RU (resource unit) 16 01111010-10000001242-tone RU (resource unit) 8 10000010-10000101 484-tone RU (resourceunit) 4 Others Reserved

In the implementation manner 2, an index with 8 bits is used to indicatefrequency domain resource allocation. In the foregoing manner, frequencydomain resource allocation of the WLAN system of different bandwidthsuses a same frequency resource indexing manner, so as to reduceprocessing complexity of the WLAN system.

In another embodiment, the spatial flow information includes an index ina spatial flow allocation table. In this way, after obtaining the subresource indication information of the station, the station may search,according to the index in the spatial flow allocation table, the spatialflow allocation table for a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatialflow sequence number that uniquely correspond to the station. Thespatial flow sequence number may be a sequence number of a long trainingfield (Long Training Field, LTF for short), or a matrix row numbercorresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix (P Matrix), or a sequencenumber of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

It should be noted that rows in the P matrix are used to differentiatebetween different spatial flows, and the rows in the P matrix areorthogonal to each other.

In an implementation process, the spatial flow allocation table may begenerally preset in the station.

Specifically, the spatial flow allocation table includes allocationmanners of different quantities of spatial flows and correspondingindices. A total quantity of spatial flows is specified, but allocationmay be performed according to different quantities of spatial flows.Generally, in an SU-MIMO mode, stations continuously use spatial flowsin ascending order of spatial flow sequence numbers. In a MU-MIMO mode,station groups continuously use spatial flows in ascending order ofspatial flow sequence numbers. A spatial flow allocation table isgenerated after all possible combinations are traversed.

Eight spatial flows are used as an example, and in the spatial flowallocation table, indices 0 to 7 respectively correspond to eightdifferent allocation manners of a single flow.

Indices 8 to 11 respectively correspond to four different allocationmanners of two spatial flows. Preferably, the different allocationmanners of two spatial flows are to perform division according to twoconsecutive adjacent spatial flows in ascending order of sequencenumbers, and a same spatial flow is not reused. Therefore, the differentallocation manners of two spatial flows include: an allocation manner ofspatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first and second,an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequencenumbers are third and fourth, an allocation manner of spatial flowswhose spatial flow sequence numbers are fifth and sixth, and anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare seventh and eighth.

Indices 12 and 13 respectively correspond to two different allocationmanners of three spatial flows. The different allocation manners ofthree spatial flows are to perform division according to threeconsecutive adjacent spatial flows in ascending order of sequencenumbers, and a same spatial flow is not reused. Therefore, the differentallocation manners of three spatial flows include: an allocation mannerof spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first, second,and third, and an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flowsequence numbers are fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Indices 14 and 15 respectively correspond to two different allocationmanners of four spatial flows. The different allocation manners of fourspatial flows are to perform division according to four consecutiveadjacent spatial flows in ascending order of sequence numbers, and asame spatial flow is not reused. Therefore, the different allocationmanners of four spatial flows include: an allocation manner of spatialflows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first, second, third, andfour, and an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flowsequence numbers are fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

An index 16 corresponds to one allocation manner of five spatial flows.The allocation manner of five spatial flows includes: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, and fifth.

An index 17 corresponds to one allocation manner of six spatial flows.The allocation manner of six spatial flows includes: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.

An index 18 corresponds to one allocation manner of seven spatial flows.The allocation manner of seven spatial flows includes: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh.

An index 19 corresponds to one allocation manner of eight spatial flows.The allocation manner of eight spatial flows includes: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

Specifically, the foregoing spatial flow allocation table may be shownin Table 9.

TABLE 9 Index Spatial flow allocation manner 0-7 Eight differentallocation manners of a single flow  8-11 Four different allocationmanners of two spatial flows: an allocation manner of spatial flowswhose spatial flow sequence numbers are first and second, an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are thirdand fourth, an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flowsequence numbers are fifth and sixth, and an allocation manner ofspatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are seventh and eighth12-13 Two different allocation manners of three spatial flows: anallocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbersare first, second, and third, and an allocation manner of spatial flowswhose spatial flow sequence numbers are fourth, fifth, and sixth 14-15Two different allocation manners of four spatial flows: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, and fourth, and an allocation manner of spatial flowswhose spatial flow sequence numbers are fifth, sixth, seventh, andeighth 16 One allocation manner of five spatial flows: an allocationmanner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first,second, third, fourth, and fifth 17 One allocation manner of six spatialflows: an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flow sequencenumbers are first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 18 Oneallocation manner of seven spatial flows: an allocation manner ofspatial flows whose spatial flow sequence numbers are first, second,third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh 19 One allocation manner ofeight spatial flows: an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatialflow sequence numbers are first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,seventh, and eighth 20-31 Reserved

In the foregoing table, each index corresponds to a unique allocationmanner. For example, index “0” identifies “an allocation manner of aspatial flow whose spatial flow sequence number is first”, and index “8”identifies “an allocation manner of spatial flows whose spatial flowsequence numbers are first and second”. Details are not describedherein.

In another embodiment, the foregoing spatial flow information mayinclude a bitmap (Bitmap). The Bitmap is used to indicate a spatial flowallocation manner and a sequence number that are allocated to thestation. Specifically, the bitmap may be used to identify a quantity ofallocated spatial flows and corresponding sequence numbers.

The spatial flow sequence number may be a sequence number of an LTF, ora matrix row number corresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or asequence number of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, the AP independently checks and codeseach piece of the sub resource indication information in the resourceindication information. In this way, the corresponding station orstation group may independently decode each piece of the sub resourceindication information, with no need to decode the entire resourceindication information. This greatly reduces resource consumption.

Further, the foregoing sub resource indication information may furtherinclude: modulation and coding scheme (Modulation and Coding Scheme, MCSfor short) information of a corresponding station, indicationinformation about whether to use space time block coding (Space TimeBlock Coding, STBC for short), indication information about whether touse Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) coding, and indication informationabout whether to use beamforming

Further, the sub resource indication information may further include anidentifier of a corresponding station. In this case, in a process ofsuccessively reading pieces of the sub resource indication information,the station may determine, according to the identifier, whether the subresource indication information belongs to the station. Preferably, theidentifier of the corresponding station may be an association identifier(Association Identifier, AID for short) or a partial associationidentifier (Partial Association Identifier, PAID for short) of thecorresponding station. In a specific implementation process, a checkingmanner may be implemented by scrambling a partial AID information bitwith Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC).

Similarly, for the station group, the sub resource indicationinformation may also carry an identifier of a corresponding stationgroup.

FIG. 5 is used as an example. FIG. 5 shows a complete piece of subresource indication information. An AID needs to occupy 11 bits. If theAID needs to be scrambled with CRC, the CRC further needs to occupy 8bits. An index in a frequency domain resource allocation table mayoccupy 4 bits, 5 bits, 6 bits, or 7 bits according to differentbandwidths of the WLAN system. For details, refer to the foregoingrelated content about the frequency domain resource allocation table. Anindex in a spatial flow allocation table needs to occupy 5 bits. MCSinformation needs to occupy 4 bits. Indication information about whetherto use STBC, indication information about whether to use LDPC, andindication information about whether to use beamforming each needs tooccupy only 1 bit. This is because only “yes” or “or” needs to beidentified. For example, “1” is used to identify “yes”, and “0” is usedto identify “no”. Certainly, the present invention is not limited towhat is shown in FIG. 5.

In another embodiment, that the AP sends, to multiple correspondingstations, the frame that carries the resource indication information maybe specifically as follows: The AP sends a PPDU to the multiplecorresponding stations. The resource indication information is carriedin a HE-SIGB part of a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) header(Header) field in the PPDU, or carried in a MAC part of the PPDU.

Similarly, if the access point sends, to the multiple station groups,the frame that carries the resource indication information, the AP mayalso send a PPDU to the multiple corresponding station groups. Theresource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGB part of a PLCPheader in the PPDU.

The foregoing PPDU may be a trigger frame, or the PPDU may be a dataframe that transmits uplink or downlink data.

In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a PPDU is used as an example. In a manner shown inFIG. 6, a HE-SIGB part includes a common part and an independent part.The common part has a fixed length, and may include fixed-lengthinformation such as long training field (Long Training Field, LTF forshort) indication information and guard interval (Guard Interval, GI forshort) information of a data part. The common part is independentlychecked and coded. The independent part includes all pieces of subresource indication information. For example, a “Per-STA RA₁” or“Per-STA RA₂” in FIG. 6 represents one piece of sub resource indicationinformation. A CRC part is added after each piece of sub resourceindication information for error check. Tail represents a tail bit. Thetail bit is used to bring a coder back to an initial state. The CRC maybe used for error check.

In a manner shown in FIG. 7, HE-SIGA of the PPDU includes fixed-lengthinformation such as LTF indication information and GI information of adata part. An independent part of HE-SIGB includes all pieces of subresource indication information.

Information shown in FIG. 5 is information in each piece of sub resourceindication information.

Further, in the case in which the AP sends, to the multiple stations,the frame that carries the resource indication information, each pieceof sub resource indication information may not include an identifier ofa corresponding station, and the identifier of the corresponding stationmay be indicated in the common part of the HE-SIGB. In the foregoingembodiment, if the AP sends the PPDU to the multiple correspondingstations, the common part of the HE-SIGB part in the PPDU furtherincludes an OFDMA station group identifier (OFDMA STA Group ID) used toindicate the multiple stations.

That is, the multiple stations have a uniform identifier, and all thecorresponding stations are mapped to the OFDMA station group identifier.

Correspondingly, before the AP sends the PPDU to the multiplecorresponding stations, the AP may send a management frame to themultiple corresponding stations. The management frame is used toindicate the OFDMA station group identifier of the multiple stations towhich a corresponding station belongs, and location information of eachstation in the multiple stations. After receiving the frame that carriesthe resource indication information, a station side may determine,according to the OFDMA station group identifier that is of the multiplestations to which the station belongs and that is indicated in themanagement frame, whether the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation and that is received by the station carries resourceindication information corresponding to the multiple stations to whichthe station belongs. If the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation and that is received by the station carries the resourceindication information corresponding to the multiple stations to whichthe station belongs, the station then identifies the sub resourceindication information of the station according to a location that is ofthe station in the multiple stations and that is indicated in themanagement frame. For example, if the management frame indicates that aspecific station is the fifth station in 10 stations, the stationdetermines that the fifth piece of sub resource indication informationin the resource indication information is resource indicationinformation of the station, with no need to read other resourceindication information.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of Embodiment 2 of a WLAN systemresource indication method provided in the present invention. The methodis performed by a station. The station may be the station in theforegoing embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the station may be any one ofmultiple stations corresponding to an AP. The method corresponds to theforegoing method on an AP side. As shown in FIG. 8, the method includesthe following steps.

S801: The station receives a frame that is sent by the access point andthat carries resource indication information, where the resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information.

S802: The station successively reads pieces of the sub resourceindication information in a preset sequence, and stops reading the subresource indication information after sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means ofreading.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, the sub resource indicationinformation in the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation is sorted according to a specific sequence. After receivingthe resource indication information, the station may successively readpieces of the sub resource indication information in the presetsequence, for example, in ascending order.

The sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of thecorresponding station.

In this embodiment, a station receives a frame that is sent by an accesspoint and that carries resource indication information. The resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information. The station successively reads pieces of the subresource indication information in a preset sequence, and stops readingthe sub resource indication information after sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means ofreading. In this way, the station does not need to read the entireresource indication information. This greatly reduces resourceconsumption and improves efficiency.

Further, the foregoing frequency domain resource allocation informationincludes an index in a frequency domain resource allocation table.Correspondingly, after the sub resource indication informationcorresponding to the station is obtained by means of reading, theforegoing station searches, according to the index in the frequencydomain resource allocation table, the frequency domain resourceallocation table for a size and a location of a frequency domainresource unit that uniquely corresponds to the station.

Specifically, the frequency domain resource allocation table includes:frequency domain resource units with multiple different sizes, aquantity of frequency domain resource allocation manners thatcorresponds to frequency domain resource unit with each size, a locationof each sub frequency domain resource that is in an entire frequencydomain resource and that is obtained after division performed by usingfrequency domain resource unit with each size, and the index in thefrequency domain resource allocation table. It should be noted that,when the sub frequency domain resources obtained after the divisionperformed by using the different sizes of frequency domain resourceunits are numbered, indices are not reused.

Frequency domain resource allocation tables vary according to differentbandwidths of a

WLAN system. For specific content, refer to Table 1 to Table 8 in theforegoing embodiment. Details are not described herein again.

In another embodiment, the foregoing spatial flow information includesan index in a spatial flow allocation table. Correspondingly, after thesub resource indication information corresponding to the station isobtained by means of reading, the station searches, according to theindex in the spatial flow allocation table, the spatial flow allocationtable for a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatial flow sequencenumber that uniquely correspond to the station.

The spatial flow sequence number may be a sequence number of an LTF, ora row number in a P matrix, or a sequence number of a spatial flow inMU-MIMO.

More specifically, the foregoing spatial flow allocation table mayinclude allocation manners of different quantities of spatial flows andcorresponding indices. A total quantity of spatial flows is specified,but combination manners are different.

For specific content of the spatial flow allocation table, refer to theforegoing Table 9. Details are not described herein again.

In another embodiment, the foregoing spatial flow information mayinclude a bitmap. The bitmap is used to indicate a spatial flowallocation manner and a spatial flow sequence number that are allocatedto the station. Correspondingly, after the sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means ofreading, the station may determine, according to the bitmap, the spatialflow allocation manner and the spatial flow sequence number thatuniquely correspond to the station.

The spatial flow sequence number may be a sequence number of an LTF, ora row number in a P matrix, or a location of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

In another embodiment, that the station successively reads pieces of thesub resource indication information in a preset sequence, and stopsreading the sub resource indication information after sub resourceindication information corresponding to the station is obtained by meansof reading may be specifically as follows: The station successivelyreads pieces of sub resource indication information in the presetsequence, independently decodes each piece of sub resource indicationinformation, and stops reading the sub resource indication informationafter the sub resource indication information corresponding to thestation is obtained.

Further, the foregoing sub resource indication information furtherincludes: MCS information of the station, indication information aboutwhether to use STBC, indication information about whether to use LDPC,and indication information about whether to use beamforming.

In another embodiment, that the station receives a frame that is sent bythe access point and that carries resource indication information may bespecifically as follows: The foregoing station receives a PPDU that issent by the access point and that carries the resource indicationinformation. The resource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGBpart of a PLCP header in the PPDU, or a MAC part of the PPDU.

The PPDU may be a trigger frame, or the PPDU may be a data frame thattransmits uplink or downlink data.

In addition, in order that the station can identify the sub resourceindication information of the station, the sub resource indicationinformation further includes an identifier of a corresponding station.The identifier may be an AID or a PAID.

Certainly, each piece of the sub resource indication information may notcarry the identifier of the corresponding station, and the frame thatcarries the resource indication information carries identifiers of allthe stations.

Specifically, a common part of the HE-SIGB part in the PPDU furtherincludes an OFDMA station group identifier used to indicate the multiplestations.

Further, before receiving the frame that carries the resource indicationinformation, the station further receives a management frame sent by theAP. The management frame is used to indicate the OFDMA station groupidentifier of the multiple stations to which a corresponding stationbelongs, and location information of each station in the multiplestations.

Correspondingly, that the station successively reads pieces of the subresource indication information in a preset sequence, and stops readingthe sub resource indication information after sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station is obtained by means of readingmay be specifically as follows: The station reads, according to theOFDMA station group identifier that is of the multiple stations to whichthe station belongs and that is indicated in the management frame andaccording to the location information that is of each station in themultiple stations and that is indicated in the management frame, the subresource indication information that is in the resource indicationinformation and that corresponds to the station.

That is, the station first determines, according to the OFDMA stationgroup identifier, whether the station belongs to the multiple stations.If the station belongs to the multiple stations, the station continuesto determine, according to the location information that is of thestation and that is indicated in the management frame, which piece ofthe sub resource indication information belongs to the station; andafter completing the determining, directly reads the sub resourceindication information corresponding to the station, with no need toread other sub resource indication information. In this manner, resourceconsumption may be better reduced.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The apparatus may be integrated in the access point in the foregoingembodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the apparatus includes a generationmodule 901 and a sending module 902.

The generation module 901 is configured to generate a frame that carriesresource indication information.

The sending module 902 is configured to send, to multiple stations, theframe that carries the resource indication information, where theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestations, and the sub resource indication information includes frequencydomain resource allocation information and/or spatial flow informationof a corresponding station; or send, to multiple station groups, theframe that carries the resource indication information, where theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestation groups, and the sub resource indication information includesfrequency domain resource allocation information and/or spatial flowinformation of a corresponding station group.

The apparatus is configured to perform the foregoing method embodimenton an access point side. Their implementation principles and technicaleffects are similar, and details are not described herein again.

The frequency domain resource allocation information includes an indexin a frequency domain resource allocation table, so that the stationsearches, according to the index in the frequency domain resourceallocation table, the frequency domain resource allocation table for asize and a location of a frequency domain resource unit that uniquelycorresponds to the station, or the station group searches, according tothe index in the frequency domain resource allocation table, thefrequency domain resource allocation table for a size and a location ofa frequency domain resource unit that uniquely corresponds to thestation group. The frequency domain resource allocation table includes:multiple different sizes of frequency domain resource units withmultiple different sizes, a quantity of frequency domain resourceallocation manners that corresponds to frequency domain resource unitwith each size, a location of each sub frequency domain resource that isin an entire frequency domain resource and that is obtained afterdivision performed by using frequency domain resource unit with eachsize, and the index in the frequency domain resource allocation table.

For specific content of the frequency domain resource allocation table,refer to Table 1 to Table 8 in the foregoing embodiment. Details are notdescribed herein again.

Further, the spatial flow information includes an index in a spatialflow allocation table, so that the station searches, according to theindex in the spatial flow allocation table, the spatial flow allocationtable for a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatial flow sequencenumber that uniquely correspond to the station.

The spatial flow sequence number is a sequence number of an LTF, or amatrix row number corresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or asequence number of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

Specifically, the spatial flow allocation table includes allocationmanners of different quantities of spatial flows and correspondingindices.

For specific content of the foregoing spatial flow allocation table,refer to the content of the foregoing Table 9. Details are not describedherein again.

In another embodiment, the spatial flow information includes a bitmap.The bitmap is used to indicate a spatial flow allocation manner and aspatial flow sequence number that are allocated to a correspondingstation. The spatial flow sequence number is a sequence number of anLTF, or a matrix row number corresponding to a spatial flow in a Pmatrix, or a sequence number of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO.

Further, the foregoing sub resource indication information may furtherinclude: MCS information of a corresponding station, indicationinformation about whether to use STBC, indication information aboutwhether to use LDPC, indication information about whether to usebeamforming, and the like.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.As shown in FIG. 10, based on FIG. 9, the apparatus may further include:a coding module 903, configured to independently check and code eachpiece of the sub resource indication information in the resourceindication information.

Further, the sub resource indication information further includes anidentifier of a corresponding station. The identifier may be an AID or aPAID.

In another embodiment, the sending module 902 is specifically configuredto: send, to the multiple stations, a PPDU that carries the resourceindication information; or send, to the multiple station groups, a PPDUthat carries the resource indication information.

The resource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGB part of aPLCP header field in the PPDU, or a MAC part of the PPDU.

The PPDU may be a trigger frame, or a data frame that transmitsuplink/downlink data. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto.

In another embodiment, a common part of the HE-SIGB part in the PPDUfurther includes an orthogonal frequency division multiple access OFDMAstation group identifier used to indicate the multiple stations.Correspondingly, the sending module 902 is further configured to: beforesending the PPDU to the multiple stations, send a management frame tothe multiple stations. The management frame is used to indicate theOFDMA station group identifier of the multiple stations to which acorresponding station belongs, and location information of each stationin the multiple stations.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The apparatus may be integrated in the station in the foregoingembodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the appratus includes a receivingmodule 111 and a reading module 112.

The receiving module 111 is configured to receive a frame that is sentby an access point and that carries resource indication information. Theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information.

The reading module 112 is configured to successively read pieces of thesub resource indication information in a preset sequence, and stopreading the sub resource indication information after sub resourceindication information corresponding to the station is obtained by meansof reading.

The sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station.

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 4 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The frequency domain resource allocation information includes an indexin a frequency domain resource allocation table. Correspondingly,

Based on FIG. 11, the apparatus may further include a first searchingmodule 113.

The first searching module 113 is configured to search, according to theindex in the frequency domain resource allocation table, the frequencydomain resource allocation table for a size and a location of afrequency domain resource unit that uniquely corresponds to the station.

The frequency domain resource allocation table includes: frequencydomain resource units with multiple different sizes, a quantity offrequency domain resource allocation manners that corresponds tofrequency domain resource unit with each size, a location of each subfrequency domain resource that is in an entire frequency domain resourceand that is obtained after division performed by using frequency domainresource unit with each size, and the index in the frequency domainresource allocation table.

For related content of the frequency domain resource allocation table,refer to the foregoing Table 1 to Table 8. Details are not describedherein again.

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 5 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The spatial flow information includes an index in a spatial flowallocation table. Correspondingly, based on FIG. 11, the foregoingapparatus may further include a second searching module 114.

The second searching module 114 is configured to search, according tothe index in the spatial flow allocation table, the spatial flowallocation table for a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatial flowsequence number that uniquely correspond to the station. The spatialflow sequence number is a sequence number of an LTF, or a matrix rownumber corresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or a sequencenumber of a spatial flow in MU-MIMO. The spatial flow allocation tableincludes allocation manners of different quantities of spatial flows andcorresponding indices.

For related content of the spatial flow allocation table, refer to theforegoing Table 9. Details are not described herein again.

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 6 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The spatial flow information includes a bitmap, and the bitmap is usedto indicate a spatial flow allocation manner and a spatial flow sequencenumber that are allocated to the station. Correspondingly, based on FIG.11, the foregoing apparatus may further include a determining module115.

The determining module 115 is configured to determine, according to thebitmap, the spatial flow allocation manner and the spatial flow sequencenumber that uniquely correspond to the station. The spatial flowsequence number is a sequence number of an LTF, or a matrix row numbercorresponding to a spatial flow in a P matrix, or a sequence number of aspatial flow in MU-MIMO.

Further, the foregoing sub resource indication information may furtherinclude: MCS information of a corresponding station, indicationinformation about whether to use STBC, indication information aboutwhether to use LDPC, indication information about whether to usebeamforming, and the like.

Further, the sub resource indication information further includes anidentifier of a corresponding station. The identifier may be an AID or aPAID.

In another embodiment, the reading module 112 is specifically configuredto successively read pieces of the sub resource indication informationin the preset sequence, independently decode each piece of the subresource indication information, and stop reading the sub resourceindication information after the sub resource indication informationcorresponding to the station is obtained.

In another embodiment, the receiving module 111 is specificallyconfigured to receive a PPDU that carries the resource indicationinformation. The resource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGBpart of a PLCP header field in the PPDU, or a MAC part of the PPDU. ThePPDU may be a trigger frame, or a data frame that transmitsuplink/downlink data.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, a common part of the HE-SIGB part inthe PPDU may further include an OFDMA station group identifier used toindicate the multiple stations. Correspondingly,

The receiving module 111 is further configured to receive a managementframe sent by the access point. The management frame is used to indicatethe OFDMA station group identifier of the multiple stations to which acorresponding station belongs, and location information of each stationin the multiple stations.

The reading module 112 is specifically configured to read, according tothe OFDMA station group identifier that is of the multiple stations towhich the station belongs and that is indicated in the management frameand according to the location information that is of the station in themultiple stations and that is indicated in the management frame, the subresource indication information that is in the resource indicationinformation and that corresponds to the station.

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 7 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The apparatus may be integrated in an access point. As shown in FIG. 15,the apparatus may include a processor 150 and a transmitter 151. Theapparatus is configured to perform the method embodiment on an accesspoint side. Their implementation principles and technical effects aresimilar. The transmitter 151 sends data to a station side, and otheroperation is all performed by the processor 150.

The processor 150 is configured to generate a frame that carriesresource indication information. The transmitter 151 is configured tosend, to multiple stations, the frame that carries the resourceindication information, where the resource indication informationincludes multiple pieces of sub resource indication information,correspondingly, each piece of the sub resource indication informationuniquely corresponds to one of the multiple stations, and the subresource indication information includes frequency domain resourceallocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station; or send, to multiple station groups, the framethat carries the resource indication information, where the resourceindication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, correspondingly, each piece of the sub resourceindication information uniquely corresponds to one of the multiplestation groups, and the sub resource indication information includesfrequency domain resource allocation information and/or spatial flowinformation of a corresponding station group.

For related content of the resource indication information, refer to theforegoing embodiment. Details are not described herein again.

The processor 150 is further configured to independently check and codeeach piece of the sub resource indication information in the resourceindication information.

The transmitter 151 is specifically configured to: send, to the multiplestations, a physical layer protocol data unit PPDU that carries theresource indication information; or send, to the multiple stationgroups, a PPDU that carries the resource indication information.

The resource indication information is carried in a HE-SIGB part of aPhysical Layer Convergence Protocol PLCP header field in the PPDU, or aMAC part of the PPDU. The PPDU is a trigger frame, or a data frame thattransmits uplink/downlink data.

A common part of the HE-SIGB part in the PPDU further includes an OFDMAstation group identifier used to indicate the multiple stations.Correspondingly,

The transmitter 151 is further configured to: before sending the PPDU tothe multiple stations, send a management frame to the multiple stations.The management frame is used to indicate the OFDMA station groupidentifier of the multiple stations to which a corresponding stationbelongs, and location information of each station in the multiplestations.

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 8 of a WLANsystem resource indication apparatus provided in the present invention.The apparatus may be integrated on a station side. As shown in FIG. 16,the apparatus may include a receiver 160 and a processor 161. Theapparatus is configured to perform the foregoing method on a stationside. Their implementation principles and technical effects are similar.The receiver 160 receives data sent by an AP side, and other operationis all performed by the processor 161.

The receiver 160 is configured to receive a frame that is sent by anaccess point and that carries resource indication information. Theresource indication information includes multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information. The processor 161 is configured to successivelyread pieces of the sub resource indication information in a presetsequence, and stop reading the sub resource indication information aftersub resource indication information corresponding to a station isobtained by means of reading.

The sub resource indication information includes frequency domainresource allocation information and/or spatial flow information of acorresponding station.

For related content of the resource indication information, refer to theforegoing embodiment. Details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that, based on the foregoing method and apparatusembodiments, the foregoing sub resource indication information mayinclude frequency domain resource allocation information and/or spatialflow information of a corresponding station.

Each piece of the sub resource indication information corresponds to onestation of multiple stations.

In the several embodiments provided in the present invention, it shouldbe understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implementedin other manners. For example, the described apparatus embodiment ismerely an example. For example, the unit division is merely logicalfunction division and may be other division in actual implementation.For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined orintegrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or notperformed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings ordirect couplings or communication connections may be implemented byusing some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communicationconnections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented inelectronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected according toactual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the presentinvention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of theunits may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integratedinto one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form ofhardware, or may be implemented in a form of hardware in addition to asoftware functional unit.

When the foregoing integrated unit is implemented in a form of asoftware functional unit, the integrated unit may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. The software functional unit is storedin a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing acomputer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or anetwork device) or a processor to perform a part of the steps of themethods described in the embodiments of the present invention. Theforegoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store programcode, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-onlymemory (Read-Only Memory, ROM for short), a random access memory (RandomAccess Memory, RAM for short), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the presentinvention, but not for limiting the present invention. Although thepresent invention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to some orall technical features thereof, without departing from the scope of thetechnical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systemresource indication method, comprising: generating, by an access point,a trigger frame that carries resource indication information, with theresource indication information comprising multiple pieces of subresource indication information; and sending, by the access point tomultiple stations, the trigger frame that carries the resourceindication information, each piece of the sub resource indicationinformation comprising an identifier of one of the multiple stations,the each piece of sub resource indication information comprising oneindex, the index indicating a size and a location of one frequencydomain resource unit (RU) allocated to the one station, and the index isone of multiple indices; the multiple indices and the corresponding RUscomprising: Index Resource Unit indicated  0-36 Each RU including 26tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 37-52 Each RU including 52 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth 53-60 Each RU including 106 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 61-64Each RU including 242 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 65-66 Each RU including484 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 67 Each RU including 996 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth  68-127 Reserved


2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the index is 7 bits.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of the WLAN system isone of 20 MHZ, 40 MHZ, 80 MHZ, or, 160 MHz, or, 80+80 MHZ.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 2, the sub resource indication information furthercomprising a specific bit, to indicate that the RU indicated by the 7bits index is in a first 80 MHz or in a second 80 MHz.
 5. A WirelessLocal Area Network (WLAN) system resource indication method, comprising:receiving, by a station, a trigger frame that is sent by an access pointand that carries resource indication information, the resourceindication information comprising multiple pieces of sub resourceindication information, each piece of the sub resource indicationinformation comprising an identifier of one of the multiple stations,and each piece of the sub resource indication information comprisingfrequency domain resource allocation information, the frequency domainresource allocation information comprising one index, the indexindicating a size and a location of one frequency domain resource unit(RU) allocated to the one station, and the index is one of multipleindices; the multiple indices and the corresponding RUs comprising:Index Resource Unit indicated  0-36 Each RU including 26 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth 37-52 Each RU including 52 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 53-60Each RU including 106 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 61-64 Each RU including242 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 65-66 Each RU including 484 tones in 80MHz bandwidth 67 Each RU including 996 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth  68-127Reserved


6. The method according to claim 5, the method further comprising:successively reading, by the station, pieces of the sub resourceindication information in a preset sequence, and stopping reading subresource indication information after the sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station has been obtained.
 7. Themethod according to claim 5, wherein the index is 7 bits.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein a bandwidth of the WLAN system is one of20 MHZ, 40 MHZ, 80 MHZ, or, 160 MHz, or, 80+80 MHZ.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 7, the sub resource indication information furthercomprising a specific bit, to indicate that the RU indicated by the 7bits index is in a first 80 MHz or in a second 80 MHz.
 10. Acommunication apparatus in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system,comprising: a processor configured to generate a trigger frame thatcarries resource indication information, with the resource indicationinformation comprising multiple pieces of sub resource indicationinformation; and a transmitter configured to send, to multiple stations,the trigger frame that carries the resource indication information, eachpiece of the sub resource indication information comprising anidentifier of one of the multiple stations, the each piece of subresource indication information comprising one index, the indexindicating a size and a location of one frequency domain resource unit(RU) allocated to the one station, and the index is one of multipleindices; the multiple indices and the corresponding RUs comprising:Index Resource Unit indicated  0-36 Each RU including 26 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth 37-52 Each RU including 52 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 53-60Each RU including 106 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 61-64 Each RU including242 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 65-66 Each RU including 484 tones in 80MHz bandwidth 67 Each RU including 996 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth  68-127Reserved


11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the index is 7 bits.12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a bandwidth of the WLANsystem is one of 20 MHZ, 40 MHZ, 80 MHZ, or, 160 MHz, or, 80+80 MHZ. 13.The apparatus according to claim 11, the sub resource indicationinformation further comprising a specific bit, to indicate that the RUindicated by the 7 bits index is in a first 80 MHz or in a second 80MHz.
 14. A communication apparatus in a Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN) system, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a triggerframe that is sent by an access point and that carries resourceindication information; and a processor configured to read the triggerframe; the resource indication information comprising multiple pieces ofsub resource indication information, each piece of the sub resourceindication information comprising an identifier of one of the multiplestations, each piece of the sub resource indication informationcomprising frequency domain resource allocation information, thefrequency domain resource allocation information comprising one index,the index indicating a size and a location of one frequency domainresource unit (RU) allocated to the one station, and the index is one ofmultiple indices; the multiple indices and the corresponding RUscomprising: Index Resource Unit indicated  0-36 Each RU including 26tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 37-52 Each RU including 52 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth 53-60 Each RU including 106 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 61-64Each RU including 242 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 65-66 Each RU including484 tones in 80 MHz bandwidth 67 Each RU including 996 tones in 80 MHzbandwidth  68-127 Reserved


15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the processor isfurther configured to successively read the pieces of the sub resourceindication information in a preset sequence, and stop reading subresource indication information after the sub resource indicationinformation corresponding to the station has been obtained.
 16. Theapparatus according to claim 14, wherein the index is 7 bits.
 17. Theapparatus according to claim 14, wherein a bandwidth of the WLAN systemis one of 20 MHZ, 40 MHZ, 80 MHZ, or, 160 MHz, or, 80+80 MHZ.
 18. Theapparatus according to claim 16, the sub resource indication informationfurther comprising a specific bit, to indicate that the RU indicated bythe 7 bits index is in a first 80 MHz or in a second 80 MHz.